Thankful for Music

During this month, I have seen a number of posts on Facebook about what everyone is thankful for. Many of them included family members or friends they are thankful for, which is indeed a wonderful blessing, but this year I thought I would write about something different that I am thankful for – the gift of music.

Music has been a very important part of my life. I started taking piano lessons at 6 years old, joined choir in elementary school and also was involved in dance at a young age. When I was little I didn’t really like practicing the piano or going to my lessons, but now I really appreciate that my parents encouraged me to play an instrument. Adam and I now have my keyboard that I learned on and I really enjoy playing now more so than I did as a child. Music for me is a stress reliever. When I feel overwhelmed, I can spend hours at the piano learning a new piece or taking out old music that I have enjoyed over the years. There are even songs in church that I relate to and have come to love. “On Eagles Wings” in one song in particular that is special to my family and I. It was a song that was played at two of my uncles’ funerals, so anytime I hear it I always think of them. Music can be very moving and I love that it can be passed on to new generations. I look forward to someday teaching my own children music and hope they will love it as much as I do.

When I was 16, my parents got me an acoustic guitar. Twelve years later I have yet to learn how to play! Except for one or two easy songs, I haven’t taken the time to learn the instrument. Next year, as my new year’s resolution, I am hoping to take time to learn how to play. I am hoping to have an appreciation for the guitar as I have with piano. I feel music really is a blessing and a gift and certainly don’t want to take it for granted.

Purposeful Prayer

Prayers are an important part of our relationship with God, but they are just words unless we pray with purpose. This week in class we will be talking about worshiping God and how to do so we have to pray with our whole heart. Some of the prayers we say in Mass are routine for parishioners that it can be easy to just say the words without considering their meaning. I am guilty of doing this and recently I have been trying to focus more on what the words in our prayers mean. I feel like this can be practiced in other parts of our life. We need to have the right intentions when we are helping others and not expect things in return. We can have the appearance of being a good person and behaving in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, but only He knows our true intentions and what is in our heart.

The past few weeks have been challenging for me and I have found myself not turning to God when I really need Him. I’ve been letting the stress of work get to me and instead of turning to Him, I’ve been trying to deal with it on my own. Now that things have calmed down a little I’ve had time to reflect and realize I need to stop thinking I can solve these problems. I think I will continue to learn ways bring all things to Him—both good and bad—and He will help guide me and learn how to find peace in even stressful situations. I have always been one to worry about what other people think of me and making a good impression on others. I need to keep in mind that as long as I am working hard and putting my heart into my work, it will be pleasing to the Lord. In the end, that is what really matters.

Acting It Out

Last weekend our lesson about how we can follow Jesus. It focused a lot on ways we can live our life that is pleasing to God which includes helping, serving and sacrificing. We discussed how we can help those in need emotionally (offering our support and prayers) and physically (helping rebuild homes for those who have been hit by a natural disaster). This was a lesson where we could have the kids talk about personal experience and share about who they are praying for or how they have helped others in the past.

Probably my favorite part (and I think the kids’ favorite part, too) was when they were able to act out a scenario when two friends or siblings got into an argument because something was said that hurtful to the other person. Almost every student volunteered to take part in this activity and they were really excited to get up in front of the class and show how to resolve a problem. Of course, a few of them were goofing off so I had to guide a few of them through and help them figure out how to sort out the problem and forgive one another.

Seeing how excited they were to act out these skits, I realize I need to incorporate more activities like this. It puts the focus on the kids and really applies what they are learning in the lesson.

Enjoying Every Moment

I can’t believe how long it has been since my last post! The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activities. I’ve been really busy at work since I’ve taken on more design work but have been really enjoying it! I’ve been struggling with balancing my time editing my publications and working on the design work. The hardest part is that there has been a lot of meetings coming up, so I’ve had to limit my time actually working on each design project. But I think it’s been a good lesson in time management and prioritizing my work!

Last week we didn’t have class as there was a retreat going on at church that would need the classroom space. It was really nice to have the weekend off because it was my mom’s birthday! My parents, Aunt Mary and my brother, Kyle, came in town to celebrate and we had a great time visiting, but the weekend went so fast! Then on Monday, Kyle called with the good news that he and his girlfriend of seven years are engaged! I am so thrilled for them! They have been doing long-distance for such a long time so I am happy they will finally get to be together in the same town! J Michaela is really sweet and genuine and a perfect match for Kyle so I can’t wait for them to start their journey as husband and wife!

I mentioned in a previous post how I feel like I am at a point in my life that I can enjoy my wonderful family and friends and this is another BIG thing to add to that list! I am so blessed to have my family and look forward to what the future holds! To end the post, I thought I would share a photo of the newly engaged couple…. Congrats again Kyle and Michaela!!

A Challenging Class

Let’s just say keeping kids attention and focus can be challenging. I knew that this would be one of my struggles and I’m not too surprised that I’ve already encountered some problems this quickly. The book we follow suggests most of the class time be spent on lecture and discussion, which I don’t think is especially interesting to the kids. After separating some of the kids and writing their names on the board I think they started to take it a little more seriously for the rest of the class. I wasn’t sure if the kids were grasping any of the concepts I was going through in the lesson so I gave them a small quiz that I later graded at home to see if they had learned the key points. Most of them got an 80% or higher so I felt that even though a few of them had a hard time keeping focus, they are learning!

Last week we talked about how God reveals Himself through His son. We discussed how Jesus was sent to teach us about God and we also talked about eternal life and our faith. This week’s lesson we’ll be talking about scripture, which is such an important part of faith. We grow in our faith by reading scripture and by living life according to its teachings. Recently, Adam and I have gotten back in to reading our devotional book which highlights a few verses in the Bible and allows us to reflect and consider how it applies to our lives. I feel that this is almost a “how to” guide on living your life in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. I think it’s important to share what scripture means to us with the kids and I hope this will get them interested in reading scripture and making it a part of their daily life.

Finding the Right Teaching Style

This week has flown by and been so busy that I haven’t had an opportunity to sit and write until now. On Monday I was able to go to dinner with my friend Jenny (the one who used to live in Naperville and now lives in Texas) because she was visiting family and competed in a marathon with her mom! It was a fun visit and we got to catch up on work, life, etc. The rest of the week was really busy with work, trying to fit in exercise and planning this week’s lesson. There is actually a lot of material to cover tomorrow morning, so planning the lesson took about 1 – 2 hours. It is definitely a time commitment but I’ve been enjoying planning out the lesson and coming up with fun hands-on activities for the kids to do. I know it can be a challenge for children to keep their attention focused for long periods of time on one activity so I’m trying to incorporate meditation, group projects and worksheets, quizzes and tests to be sure they are learning the material.

As a kid I hated tests. Now on the other side of the podium I see how not only it is important for the kids, but also that the teacher evaluate their teaching style. In one of the books I read prior to starting of the school year (The Catechist’s Toolbox by Joe Paprocki), the author talks about how you have to consider the age and maturity level of your group. You can pick activities that involve speaking (lectures, large-group discussions), to dramatization (role-playing, storytelling), drawing and art (collages, holy cards, portraits) and writing (crossword puzzles, quizzes and reports). Since it’s my first year back into teaching religious classes, I think I will learn what the right teaching style is as I go along, and to help me do so, I plan to use several of these teaching styles in each class. I hope that God will provide me the patience and guide me in the right path. It is a commitment of both time and energy, but if I bring just one child closer in their relationship with God I will consider it a success.

A Foundation of Prayer

Yesterday Adam and I had our first class teaching the 4^th graders and we had a great class! We will have seven students total, but only five were there for the first session. Last week I spent two nights planning out and going over the lesson, but wasn’t sure if I had enough material to cover the hour and half allotted time. Apparently I forgot how many questions kids have! It was great to see their interest in the history of the church and the stories about Jesus. I was so thankful to have Adam there helping me keep the class on track and also answering their questions. There were a lot of history and geography questions that I didn’t have the answers to and Adam knows a great deal about those topics.

What made me really excited to be there working with the children is their enthusiasm to learn about Jesus and grow in their relationship with him and God. Our first lesson was about the different types of prayer and meditation, the rosary and the sacraments. The children already are very familiar with a lot of the prayers, so we said some of them together. Most of the class was lecture, but I had many kids in the class who volunteered to read, so I was happy to get them involved in the class. Once we covered all the written material, we had them start a craft project which was constructing their own rosary. Adam and I had purchased some string, beads and cross charms at Michael’s on Friday night after we found this project online. The kids didn’t have enough time to finish up the project, but we will continue it next week and I hope it is something they can keep and use at home and possibly even bring it to Mass.

One of the goals established by Bob (our director of religious education) was to get the kids to church each week. In our class we are asking the students if they attended church the Sunday prior to our class and noting that down on attendance. Unfortunately, only one out of the five students said they went to church, so I am hoping that by tracking this we will encourage them and their families to attend. I sincerely hope the parents want to continue their promise they made when they had their child baptized in the church—that they will aide in the development of their child and their relationship with Jesus Christ. Part of that promise is attending weekly Mass, to give them that opportunity to spend quiet time in the Lord’s presence. I really hope the parents want to play an active role in this part of their child’s life and show them by example on how to truly live a life for God.

Counting My Many Blessings

Over the past several weeks I have felt had the feeling of being so blessed. Not that I haven’t felt this before, but in my prayers and throughout by day to day activities I have been realizing how truly blessed I am. I have a wonderful husband who has been my friend for more than 13 years and has been there for me as a friend and husband for the past two and half years. I have amazing parents who have taught me really important life lessons—love, patience, work ethic and how to live a faithful life for God. I am happy to say that I have a great relationship with them which has evolved into a friendship as I have grown into adulthood. I am also happy to call my brother my friend. Growing up I remember some friends thinking it was odd because as brother and sister we always got along. We looked out for each other and always had fun playing together. Although we don’t get to see each other often, we have a great friendship and enjoy the times we do get to spend together.

Because we have moved so much over the years, I have friends from different points in my life. During my young childhood days in St. Louis, Missouri, Ft. Wayne, Indiana, my middle school and beginning of high school years in Aurora/Naperville, the rest of my high school years in Champaign, college in Charleston, my first job at a newspaper in Ottawa and finally here in Elk Grove Village. I have not kept in touch with all my friends in each of those areas, but I do have some friends from each part of my 28 years. It is so great to reconnect with friends and I believe you know you have a good friend when you can pick up where you left off.

Let’s take for example my friends Chrissy and Laura from Ft. Wayne. After we moved away, I lost touch with many of my Ft. Wayne friends, but Chrissy and I had kept in touch through mail, AIM and email. I was so excited to be invited to her wedding a few years ago. Before her wedding, we hadn’t seen each other in over 10 years. At her wedding, it was like no time had passed and we just picked up where we had left off. It was at Chrissy’s wedding that I reconnected with Laura and we started talking again via email. A few years later I got to see them and spend a little time with them at my wedding (I wish I was able to spend more time with them, but the day was a little busy!) and then this summer in June we all were able to visit again at Laura’s wedding. Two weeks ago, Laura and her husband, Tyler, were able to visit and we had a great time! We had a pretty low-key weekend but it was a blast because we just got to visit and catch up on everything! Chrissy and Adam weren’t able to make it but I’m hoping all six of us (the three girls plus husbands) can get together again soon. They are truly great friends and I know we will be friends throughout life because they know what matters—it’s not the amount of time you spend together, but the quality of that time.

I have found this to be true with many other friends as well. My friend Jenny who I knew from Naperville now is in Texas and we have phone dates where we nearly talk for 3 hours! I keep in touch with my friend Erika from St. Louis via email and love catching up with her when I have the chance. I am lucky that I live close to my friends Mindy, Katie and Michelle so we try to get together often. I also made some great friends from my time working at the newspaper in Ottawa and really enjoy the times I can get together with them.

I’m not sure why exactly I have felt particularly blessed at this point in my life. Obviously there have been plenty other times that I have had joy and have felt love. I think I really have realized what a great season of life I’m currently in and have so much to be thankful for. I’m going to continue to thank God for all the wonderful people and blessings He has given me and try my best to continue live a life for Him.

The Power of Healing Prayer

At the beginning of August, I attended a retreat for all catechists. It wasn’t required, but was highly recommended that we attend, and I felt I could use all the training I could get so I was happy to attend. During our time there we heard from our priest and the adult formation director on what it means to be a disciple (there are three levels of discipleship in case you didn’t know—seeker, disciple and apostle) and what a disciple looks like. Although I enjoyed these sessions, the most beneficial time at the retreat was my time in healing prayer.

The adult formation director, Keith, was offering three time slots for healing prayer. I had thought about signing up for one but I was nervous because I had no idea what it would involve. During one of the breaks he mentioned to me that there was still some space available and asked if I would be interested. I felt like there was a reason he brought it up to me and that maybe God felt I needed to do it, so I decided to sign up.

Keith began the session by explaining what healing prayer is—it is prayer led by someone to help bring you closer to the Lord by giving up anything you are going through in life up to Him. Keith led the prayer and I was able to pray silently about anything I wanted to bring to the Lord. Keith asked me questions about things that are weighing on me or that I have struggled with my life. Without getting into too much personal detail, I will say that I had some things that I have held inside and tried to deal with on my own instead of praying about them and asking God to help me get through them. I think the most beneficial part of healing prayer was when I did an exercise that symbolized giving my worries and anxieties up to the Lord. Keith had me stretch out my arm and have my hand palm up and hold my other hand over my heart. He then asked me to physically take each concern from my heart with my hand and put it in my other hand. Once I had put all my worries in my outstretched hand, it felt weighed down and very heavy. He then had me lift up my hand and ask the Lord to take them away. I instantly felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders! It was such a freeing feeling to not have these always wearing me down and stressing me out. During another part of the session, Keith put holy water in my hands in the sign of the cross and also on my forehead. I lifted up my hands and had some quiet prayer time and all of the sudden my hands and head were really warm! I have always prayed to the Lord and felt a connection to Him, but this was the first time that I felt like I truly felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, as if I was being surrounded. I felt like I was just filled with the love of the Holy Spirit and knew that I was safe and everything would be OK. After the session was over, I was amazed at the feeling I had of being light and free of any worry and I physically couldn’t stop smiling! I was truly so happy, the happiest I had felt in a while and I knew then that there was a deeper reason I signed up to be a catechist—not only to bring children closer to God but also a want to deepen my relationship with Him.

I’ve wanted to write about this experience since I came back from the retreat, but it has taken me a while to process and put into words the wonderful experience I had. I don’t know if my words will fully describe what I felt, but I hope that sharing what it was like for me might encourage others to try it as well.

The Journey Begins…

Last night I attended the last session of the training required to become a catechist for the upcoming school year. The religious education director, Bob, led the training on how to develop lessons, dealing with behavior problems, creating classroom rules and other important information. We discussed ways to set up an environment conducive to learning and also to making the children feel comfortable with praying to the Lord during the class. He suggested having some time each class to have the children focus on prayer and this can be done by having a Bible out on a table and a candle lit. There were some really great ideas that I hope I can incorporate into my lessons this year.

We also received a schedule of the lessons for our grade and at first I was a little overwhelmed with planning out the lessons each week, but I know I will just need to take it one week at a time. Right now there are only six students signed up for my class which I think is a good number because with a smaller class size, I will get to know each student.

There are also other events for catechists to attend throughout the year, which I am very excited about! I think it is great for the other catechists to get to know each other and talk about any concerns they have in the classroom. I am hoping to learn a lot from the other experienced catechists!

There has been a lot of training and paperwork going into becoming a catechist, but to me it has been worth it! It is essential to have the training and work on the skills necessary to be an effective teacher. I am sure I will learn more through experience, so I am glad to get the year started and see what God has in store for me and my class. My goals for the year are to help my students develop a closer relationship with God and know how much they are loved. I also hope to pass on the values and morals that I have been taught through the years in my religious education classes as a student, from my parents and other role models throughout my 28 years.

Putting Others Before Yourself

In my first post, I briefly talked about the JOY principle—Jesus first, Others second, You third—and since tomorrow is Random Acts of Kindness Day, I thought this would be a great time to write about putting others before yourself. In passages from the Bible and from what I have learned through living out my faith, I believe the Lord would like me to treat others with respect and go out of my way to make them feel special. I have been taught to treat others better than myself.

On Random Acts of Kindness Day, we can show our love for others by making a special gift (baking cookies for example), opening doors, offering to pay for a cup of coffee or assisting the elderly. It’s important to remember that the intention is more important than the grandeur of the action. For more random acts of kindness ideas, visit the national random acts of kindness website.

Finding Balance

Tonight during my yoga practice I had a hard time keeping my balance on one of the sequences. It was a series in which you put basically all of your body weight on one leg and try to move smoothly through the cycle. Of course the instructor seemed to have no problem moving through and making it look easy, but I had to keep in mind that I hadn’t practiced yoga in quite a few weeks.

During my time on the mat, I contemplated how moments in yoga can relate to obstacles or success in life. I think this is one of the reasons I love incorporating yoga in my workout routine. When I couldn’t keep my balance, I thought about how it’s a constant challenge to find balance in our lives—dividing time between work, family, friends, obligations, hobbies, etc. can be a job all in itself! There is never enough time in the day to get everything accomplished, so we must prioritize.

However, in other poses, like crow pose—where you stack your knees on the back of your arms—I feel empowered and strong. It makes me feel capable and ready to take on the world! We all have strengths and weaknesses, and I see this in both yoga and everyday life.

No matter the thoughts or feelings I go through during my practice, I always end it feeling refreshed and invigorated. It can help keep clear one’s mind and be ready for the day ahead or be a perfect end to the day.

And, just for fun, here is a photo of our puppy, Roxy, who wanted to join in the practice tonight!

Reconnecting with God

Throughout my life there have been times I have leaned against God for wisdom, support and guidance, and other times where I have instead tried to handle any problems I have on my own. I think this is human nature, and you have to make a conscious effort to turn to God in both good times and the bad. For me, I have found it most difficult to lean on Him when I’m going through a struggle. Instead of praying about it, I have this idea that “I got myself into this, I will find myself a way out.” In the past year I have felt like I needed to rekindle that relationship with God and making the effort to turn to Him every day in prayer.

For Lent this year, Adam and I decided to start having devotion and Bible study time every evening. It was great to read a passage in the Bible, reflect on it and think of ways to apply it to our own lives. We still try to have this time each day dedicated to doing this, but with how busy our lives can get sometime it’s hard to be sure we do this every day. However, it was during the time of Lent that I realized how much I need to set time aside and at least dedicate 15 minutes a day to Him. It got me thinking about other ways I could continue to work on my relationship with God and serve Him.

While I was in high school, I taught CCD classes to the 4-year-olds with my mom at our church. I really loved working with children and I couldn’t think of a better way to share my faith than passing it on to the next generation. I wanted to get back into teaching religious classes to children as I felt that was what I was called to do.

Adam and I attended a new church a few months ago, Queen of the Rosary, and I found in their bulletin they needed religious education teachers for the upcoming year. I truly felt this was what God was calling me to do, so I reached out to the Religious Education Director at the church and now Adam and I are set to begin teaching the 4^th grade level starting in just a few weeks. I am so thrilled for this new opportunity to share our faith and work with children and look forward to what it will bring to our lives. I expect to have some challenges along the road but that it will be incredibly rewarding to pass on our faith, something that is so dear to our hearts.

I plan to share some of our trials and triumphs through this blog and welcome any ideas, suggestions or advice any other religious education leaders can provide!

Welcome to JOYful Heart!

Hello and welcome to my blog! I guess the best way to start out this new endeavor is to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 20-something year old, married and living in the suburbs of Chicago. I completed a degree in Journalism in 2006, worked for a daily newspaper for a few years, and then got my job as an editor for an association management company where I currently work. I also got married two years ago to my best friend, Adam, and love married life!

So, what is “JOYful Heart,” you ask? It is a way of life and a way that I strive to live my life. The definition of joy is “the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires.” In my heart, my deepest desire is to live my life according to the Lord and do right by Him. I know that by living a life for Christ you will achieve all those things listed: well-being, success and good fortune and true joy.

During my college years, I worked as a camp counselor one summer at Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, Indiana. At “Camp T” they teach you what living a life of JOY means: Jesus first, Others second and Yourself third. Only by having your priorities in this order can you find true joy and live a happy and fulfilling life. I whole-heartedly believe in this. There have been times when I haven’t leaned on the Lord for guidance and wisdom and have believed I could handle things on my own, but when I have given my worries or concerns up to Him I have felt sense of peace and clarity.

I will be using this blog to share my experiences trying to live according to the JOY principle and hope to encourage others to explore a relationship with God. God Bless!